Adena patients get access to clinical trials

New treatment options for cancer appear all the time, and part of the reason is clinical trials. As therapies are tested and proven to be more effective than the current standards — or to be equally as effective but with fewer side effects — they can move closer to being available for patients everywhere.

Adena Cancer Center is part of the Columbus Community Clinical Oncology Research Program (NCORP),a consortium of 14 institutions that bring groundbreaking research to local communities. Adena is also one of just three hospitals in a new NCORP program called Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR). The first study of the CCDR program will look at colon cancer patients, the cost of chemotherapy, and how it impacts their care.

Adena Cancer Center offers about 50 ongoing clinical trials for medication therapies for a wide range of cancers, including breast, colorectal, lung, and head-and-neck, as well as prostate, kidney, pancreatic and skin cancers.

The therapies being tested include chemotherapy drugs and biological agents as well as medications to reduce side effects of other treatment.

Benefits of Research

Clinical trials at Adena provide patients with access to some of the most groundbreaking treatments in the country.

“A good research program is beneficial to our patients,” says Linda Kight, R.N., BSN, OCN, clinical trials nurse at the Adena Cancer Center. “You have access to new, innovative treatments, and you’re being monitored by some of the best doctors in the country.”

You can learn more about the benefits as well as potential risks from the National Institutes of Health. If you have questions about a trial or would like to enroll, talk to your cancer doctor, or ask to speak with the clinical trials nurse.

How Clinical Trials Work

To effectively test a drug, trials must have strict, narrow criteria. So, to be eligible to participate in a drug trial, a patient must have a specific cancer at a certain stage, size, etc. Age and gender requirements are common as well.

Your doctor might recommend you be screened for eligibility for a clinical trial, or if you’re interested in learning more about open studies, call or emailLinda Kight, R.N., BSN, OCN, clinical trials nurse at the Adena Cancer Center, at 740-542-3071.